The present invention relates generally to a conduit assembly utilized to house a fiber optic cable and, in particular, to a method of utilizing a unique conduit insert to convert a single chambered conduit into a multi-chambered conduit capable of housing a plurality of fiber optic cables.
The use of telephonic communication is increasing throughout the world. In the past, as telephone use increased, additional electrically conductive cable was installed to accommodate the increased demand. In most metropolitan areas, cable used in the telephonic industry is typically placed in underground conduits. Generally, the underground conduit has an annular cross-section and is formed of a plastic material such a polyvinylchloride, for example. Such a plastic material provides the conduit with several advantages which include: (1) a high strength to weight ratio, (2) an effective environment for protecting the associated cable, and (3) a long life-cycle due to the inertness of the plastic material.
The increase in telephone use in certain highly populated areas has made it economical for the telephone companies to commence some significant and expensive changes in the mode of transmitting information telephonically. As mentioned above, the conventional medium used for conducting telephone messages has been cable formed of a plurality of individual electrically conductive wires. Many extraordinary developments have been made relating to increasing the efficiency of the telephone system by increasing the number of messages which can be conducted over a single wire. However, there are manifest limitations to the use of conventional, electrically conductive wires.
Recently, the telephone companies have had an additional option to consider when evaluating the parameters necessary to expand a given system to meet the increased demands. Fiber optics has presented an interesting possible option. Fiber optics can be successfully used for transmitting information by utilizing light energy, rather than electrical energy, as the conveyor of the information. Among the advantages of utilizing fiber optics is the increased rapidity in which information can be transmitted and the increased quanta of information which can be transmitted within a given cross-sectional area.
Therefore, at the point of time when the existing telephone cable network is at capacity and, in order to increase the capacity, the underground duct network would have to be replaced, fiber optics becomes a viable alternative. Since the physical characteristics of fiber optics are different from electrical cable, different handling and installation methods are required. For a number of reasons, it is considered beneficial to house fiber optic bundles in discrete housings rather than the conventional single chambered conduit used to house the previous electrically-conductive cable.